Friday, July 27, 2012

Install Latest MATE in Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint

The MATE desktop environment is a fork of GNOME 2, bringing back full experience of classic/traditional desktop metaphor found in GNOME 2.x.

MATE desktop probably is the best choice especially for Linux users who can't get used to the mobile-device-centric desktop environment like GNOME Shell or Ubuntu Unity, and want to keep using the classic, simple yet highly customizable, GNOME 2 look and feel instead.

Since its first release in late last year, now MATE has been consider stable enough for everyday use, with its latest release that has reached 1.4 version today.

Below is the screenshot of MATE 1.4 running on top of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin, with some customization.

As someone asked in the comment below, I used zonColor GTK theme on the screenshot.

MATE Issue: QT Apps Ignoring GTK Style/Theme

Up until now, there is still an issue (bug?) with QT applications (e.g. Clementine, VLC) running in MATE session: they use native/generic QT style instead of GTK style/theme, so that they don't integrate nicely with MATE desktop environment.

Here's how to solve this issue:

Install qt4-qtconfig package in Ubuntu/Debian by using Synaptic or Software Center, or by installing it via Terminal:

sudo apt-get install qt4-qtconfig

Then search and run the QT 4 Settings application you just installed (System => Preferences => QT 4 Settings) ==> set GUI style to GTK+ ==> save the change.